Bump Update – My First Trimester Thoughts and Overview

Well this is my first ever bump update and I can’t quite believe that I’m writing it. It all still feels so surreal, but I thought this might be the best way for me to document the experience of my first trimester and be able to look back on it. You might have seen in our pregnancy announcement that we found out we were having a baby around the end of the 5 week mark. So, I don’t really have much to update you all on about the first 5 weeks. However, as we hit the end of week 5 lots of things started to change. Before that I was really tired and worn out, but I put that down to all the excitement of starting a new job. I had been to Cambridge for a week to meet everyone and start my training and when I came back I was transitioning into working from home. It was all very exciting with lots of new people to meet and things to learn that I didn’t think the tiredness would be from anything else.

Morning sickness and exhaustion

I hadn’t really experienced any sicky symptoms up until the start of week 6 and then that all quickly changed. Week 6 and 7 were probably my worst. As dramatic as it may sound the only word I can use to describe it is horrific. Every day was filled with nausea, exhaustion and feeling extremely fed up from it all. I have no idea why it’s called morning sickness because it hits you like a brick in the face at any time of the day! It even woke me up during the night. As the days went on I seemed to get more and more exhausted. I had no motivation to do anything and I just wanted to sit on the sofa with a blanket. I was in bed most evenings by 8:30 and I don’t think I accomplished anything for those few weeks. Thank goodness Ryan was home. He rallied around doing all the house work and doing bits and pieces for me. He is an absolute gem!

After reading a few blogs, I found a few different tips to try and help the nausea. Everyone suggested ginger biscuits, but I can’t stand them, so I opted for some herbal tea instead. I also drank loads of peppermint herbal tea as that helped to settle my stomach. This Pukka Organic one was my favourite. I read that a lot of people found that eating more often helped so I started eating as soon as I woke up. I kept plain digestives on my bedside table and every morning Ryan laughed at me as he woke up and heard me munching on my biscuits. I then ate my breakfast as soon as I got out of bed and then carried on eating a little bit every couple of hours, which actually gets me on my next point.

Food and eating

Anyone who knows me, will know that I like to eat. I am always hungry, but I have never woken up so hungry at 3 in the morning in my life! I was adamant that it wasn’t normal to be that hungry all the time, but after reading about some other people’s experiences it seems it might actually be quite normal. Strangely though I didn’t fancy most food that I would normally eat. During week 6, Ryan and I went to Tescos three times and I just wandered the aisles looking for snacks, but couldn’t seem to find anything I wanted. I did find loads of things I knew I didn’t want though. I had gone off tea completely, which really ruined my nice little tea and biscuits routine in the afternoon. I finally had my first cup of tea at the end of week 9 and I still didn’t drink the whole cup, but it was good enough for me. By the end of week 9 I realised I started to want to eat my normal food again. I also realised I that I needed to carry so many snacks in my handbag if we went out, I might as well have packed a picnic every time I left the house.

Emotions

Let’s just say pregnancy hormones are VERY real! During week 6 I think I cried every single day for various reasons. Even whilst sat in the Tesco car park, because I was so tired and I didn’t want to go in and buy pasta. I have never felt so ridiculous in my life. When your hormones are all over the place, you feel absolutely rubbish and you’re still trying to take in the overwhelming news there was nothing else to do but cry for no reason. With hormones running high and feeling so rubbish all of the time, I just cannot describe how fed up I felt, which in turn made me feel guilty as I felt as though this should be such an exciting time for us. I found it really hard to open up about it to friends and family too because I was worried they might misunderstand and I didn’t want to come across ungrateful or not excited for our new adventure, so I just tried to plod along. I didn’t really go out much or see friends as I was so tired and couldn’t face trying to be my normal happy self.

That was probably my lowest point in my first trimester, but it soon went away. As soon as I spoke about how I felt, I instantly felt so much better. So if you are in a similar position, try to talk to someone; whether it be a partner, family member, friend, GP or midwife – you will feel so much better for it! Not long after this my symptoms settled down completely and I felt so much better! For the rest of my first trimester I was able to cope with the little niggly symptoms every now and then! I started to eat more normal food again, get some of my motivation back and felt less like a crying mess – so all was right with the world again! I am now at the start of my second trimester. I am feeling good and looking forward to the next part of the adventure and I am sure I will have lots of other bits to update you on soon.